Damage Done
by xoxoconsu
Summary: A series of drabbles and one-shots detailing the development of James and Lily's relationship throughout their seven years at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All characters, locations, and other such things belong to JK Rowling, not me. So, obviously, I own nothing. **

**Author's Note at the end. I hope you enjoy this!**

First Year (1971-1972)

The paintings hung around the hallowed halls of Hogwarts saw everything, and remembered it all –albeit not very clearly– on occasion.

The portrait of Ira the Wondrous, a rather austere-looking witch on the first floor saw them arrive into the entrance hall, bickering as eleven-year-old children are prone to do. Their voices rose above the din of the crowd of first years, and the dull roar of students slowly began to fade. Soon their argumentative shouts were all that could be heard in the entrance hall.

"How _dare_ you, Potter?! What is wrong with you? You should have just kept your stupid mouth shut! But no, you just _had_ to keep hurling insult after insult at him, just to amuse yourself and your stupid little friends. I can't believe you!" The redheaded girl's face matched the colour of her hair as she glared furiously at the dark-haired, bespectacled boy in front of her.

Said boy stayed silently smirking through her onslaught of words, waiting for an opportunity to calmly retort with a "I wouldn't have insulted him if he wasn't such a slimy Slytherin. Besides, wouldn't you rather be in _my_ company than his? He's a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake! I, being a Gryffindor, am far _better_." He finished his statement with a cocky grin, an expression that only served to further infuriate Lily.

"For your information, James Potter, I'd much rather be around Sev than you! At least he isn't a conceited, stuck-up _jerk_!"

"Evans, you wound me." James put a hand to his heart, feigning an offended expression.

A mix between a shriek and a groan escaped the young girl, full of frustration. She shot James one last venomous glare before turning around and stomping away, grumbling angrily. James stayed there with his friends, laughing and ruffling his already disheveled black hair almost absentmindedly. The witch who had been watching the pair shook her head, turning to leave her portrait with the intention of visiting Violet, a witch whose portrait hung near the room just off the Great Hall where the three champions of the Triwizard Tournament were sent when their names were taken from the Goblet of Fire. But all that had ceased upon the tournament's cancellation years ago due to the increasing death count, so Ira knew that Violet was always thirsting for new gossip and that she might appreciate an interesting tidbit of information about the two first-years.

Christmas 1971

The entire castle was adorned in Christmas decorations. Garlands of tinsel were hung in the corridors and in doorways. Some mischievous older students had conjured branches of mistletoe to hang in doorways. Violet had been visiting the Fat Lady and both were obviously drunk, as they tended to be when they got together. Their idle conversation was interrupted by the loud footsteps of several students approaching. One of them, recognised as Sirius Black by the Fat Lady, was walking alongside the messy-haired, bespectacled boy known as James Potter. Both were laughing, and the source of their amusement soon became quite clear. Lily Evans trudged along behind them, obviously fuming at the two boys. The trio remained silent (save for the boys' laughter) until they reached the portrait, at which time James turned around and opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by the exasperated voice of Lily. "If you say even _one _more word to me, Potter, I swear I'll hex you until you're unrecognisable."

James raised his eyebrows at his fellow Gryffindor's sardonic comment, a smirk already curving his lips. "Jeez, _someone _is certainly quite testy today. Wouldn't you agree, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded, and both boys smirked at Lily as she swept past them with a muttered "Shut it, Potter" and uttered the password to the Fat Lady. They stayed behind as Lily entered the Gryffindor common room and the portrait swung shut. Soon enough, two other boys approached their friends, the taller boy's sandy hair looking almost as disheveled as James' hair usually was. The other boy was shorter and squatter than the other three, and seemed to be more of a follower to James' and Sirius' endeavors. The aforementioned boys called out greetings to their friends, Moony and Wormtail (more commonly known as Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, respectively). The four boys, known by some as the Marauders, wandered into the common room. An angry shriek was heard as the Fat Lady's portrait swung shut, and uproarious laughter followed the sound.

Valentine's Day 1972

A loud, booming explosion preceded the large quantities of smoke that pour from a certain Gryffindor's cauldron. Lily covered her mouth with both hands to keep her laughter from bursting out of her, forcing herself to elbow Severus to keep him quiet as well. They weren't the only ones stifling laughter as smoke continued to rise from James' cauldron, the stench of it filling the Potions classroom swiftly. Professor Slughorn bustled over to James and Sirius, frowning despite his rather obvious attempts to keep the laughter caused by his student's misfortune at bay. "Mr. Potter! Could you or Mr. Black possibly explain how such a thing happened?"

Both first years muttered out vague explanations, and Professor Slughorn didn't seem too concerned by it, allowing them and the rest of his class to get on with their work. When the bell rang, they were -as per usual- the first to leave the classroom, although this time James was scurrying up to the Gryffindor tower to change. He froze as he heard a familiar voice calling out to him, one he'd rather not be stopped by at that particular moment. He spun around to face a slyly smirking Lily, Severus standing just behind her with a very similar smirk on his lips.

"Having issues in Potions, Potter?" She wanted to know.

James rolled his eyes, glaring at the pair of first years that taunted him. "My only problem in that class is Snivellus' presence, Evans. Other than that, not really."

"Are you sure? 'Cause the stench of smoke clinging to you right now suggests otherwise." They both ignored the fourth year girls throwing pink-and-red-and-white, heart-shaped confetti around them, and the yells of the Head Boy for the girls to clean the mess of confetti now strewn on the ground.

"Bite me, Evans." James ignored Snape sniggering in the background and turned around again, shooting glares at the heart adornments and other romantic decorations scattered around the castle as he resumed his hurried yet falsely nonchalant gait toward Gryffindor Tower.

**Author's Note: All I have to say right now is: thank you for clicking on this and reading it. I hope I did the characters justice, and I very sincerely hope you darling readers liked what I've written.**

**Also, I have to thank Mich and Ilana for being so supportive of me and for putting up with my insanity and random pic spams that will continue to occur throughout the course of this story.**

**Much love,**

**Connie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: As I mentioned in chapter one, I do not own anything. **

Second Year (1972-1973)

It was snowing. It was the middle of September, and it was snowing at Hogwarts. Not outside, though. No, of course not. It was snowing _inside _the castle, thanks to the Marauders. And it really was quite obvious who was to blame. Admired by their fellow Gryffindors and despised by some, if not most, Slytherins, the four second-year students were surprisingly well known for their notoriously mischievous pranks and tricks. Laughter and congratulations are passed around as other students take notice of the second-years' accomplishment; the four boys grinned and accepted the congratulations. James was grinning more than his friends, but the proud smile escaped as he heard a certain redhead's derisive scoff.

"_Really_, Potter? Snow in September?" Lily crossed her arms, shooting James an unimpressed look. Truthfully, she _was _rather impressed. But it wouldn't do to let him in on that, not at all. Especially since her best friend stood next to her, glaring at James Potter as if the Gryffindor had personally attacked him.

James' retort was interrupted by a stern voice calling out "James Potter and Sirius Black! Go to my office, wait there, and _do not touch anything_."

"Aw, come on, Professor! It's not like it's hurting anyone!" The aforementioned second-year students immediately began to protest, but the boys' complaints were ignored as Professor McGonagall herded them towards her office, but not before asking Professor Flitwick to repair the havoc the Marauders had caused.

Lily and Severus watched as the two boys walked away, Lily shaking her head at her friend's comment against the two Gryffindor mischief-makers. They turned around to head to the Great Hall, and Lily missed the backwards glance from James, whose hopeful heart had inexplicably skipped a beat when he heard her voice.

Christmas 1972

James Potter was in detention. Again. But it was Christmas, so Professor McGonagall had decided to be lenient and had assigned him to aid in the decoration of the Great Hall for the holiday. He hummed absent-mindedly as he followed Professor Flitwick's instructions to hang garlands of tinsel around the Great Hall. It was simple and slightly mind-numbing work, so he started as a quiet voice interrupted his reverie.

"Since when d'you know Muggle Christmas songs, Potter?" James turned around to face a smiling Lily Evans, whose smile was replaced by a look of polite interest, but not before James noticed the upwards curve of her pink lips. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold and melting snowflakes clung to her crimson curls.

"Mum prefers Muggle music around Christmastime, if you must know." James' lips quirked into a smile, noticing that Snape wasn't lurking behind Lily this time. "Have you been outside, Evans? Tsk, tsk. Breaking the rules, what a shame." (He was rather proud of himself for not mentioning Snape's absence)

"Oh, shut it." The flush in her cheeks darkened slightly, but she actually smiled back at him. "I wanted to go outside and look at the snow." An anxious frown crossed her features as she leaned closer to James, her last words coming out in a hurried whisper, a plea for his silence in her eyes. "You won't tell, will you?"

"All right, Evans. I won't breathe a word of it to anyone." How could he say no to her when she wasn't hexing him, when she was actually smiling at him? At that moment, James decided that he rather liked seeing Lily Evans smile. "But you have to help Professor Flitwick and me decorate in exchange for my silence."

No matter how much he may have liked her smile, he couldn't just let her get away with it without asking for something in return. She rolled her eyes, but nodded, and darted away to offer her help to the tiny Charms teacher. James just grinned to himself, turning back to his simple, mind-numbing work once again and resumed his humming. Soon enough, he heard a soft little voice humming along.

Valentine's Day 1973

Lily Evans was irritated. There was no other way to put it, or at the very least no other way that wouldn't sound even worse, no matter how much more fitting it'd be.

There was a reason for such immense annoyance, of course. And that reason went by the name of James Potter.

She was just _so tired_ lately. The last thing she needed was to put up with more of James' and Severus' bickering. To make it worse, James had been particularly obnoxious this time. He had begun with the usual round of insults aimed at Severus' appearance and House, but – apparently having decided to delve into the altogether too fitting yet still inappropriate jokes that corresponded to Valentine's Day, the one holiday that Lily couldn't help but to dislike – he had soon changed the tune of his taunting. Even worse was the fact that he had directly brought her into his stupid joke, instead of ignoring her while he mocked Severus, like he usually did.

"Ooh, Snivellus, are you planning on asking Evans to be your _girlfriend_ now?" James smirked and Sirius chuckled, while Severus seemed to be paler than usual. "Don't you think you should've cleaned up a bit –or a lot– to make a good impression? Oh, wait. D'you even _know_ how to?"

Lily's cheeks flushed with anger and her eyes gleamed menacingly as she stepped forward, a step closer to James and Sirius, wand out and pointing at James. She glared at the duo, her free hand clenched into a tight fist. "Would you just _shut up_, Potter? Leave Sev alone! What has he ever done to you?"

Before James could get his clever retort out, Sirius had surreptitiously whipped his wand out, pointing it at Severus, who was too busy glaring at James to notice, and murmured a quiet "_tarantallegra_".

The effect brought swift retribution upon the Gryffindor student. Lily shrieked in outrage at him and James as Severus began to dance strangely and uncontrollably. That was how Professor Sprout found them moments later, Lily yelling, James looking amused and guilty, Snape dancing, and Sirius laughing. Her appearance swiftly silenced Lily's furious ranting, and she only murmured a "_thank you_" to the kindly professor who was frowning at the two Gryffindor boys before escorting a weak-legged Severus (for Professor Sprout had unjinxed him before turning to James and Sirius) as best she could to the Hospital Wing. Lily glared at James and Sirius as she walked away, shaking her head angrily.

James felt his heart sinking, but had no time to ponder upon this, as Professor Sprout had already begun scolding them and he thought it better to pay attention to that rather than the strange things he felt.

**Author's Note:**

**Apparently the first chapter was good. So I've decided to post this, too. Wow. Two chapters in one night, that's weird. Hopefully, I'll finish chapter three soon so that I can post it, too.**

**Thank you all for reading! (Reviews aren't required but always appreciated)**

**Much love,**

**Connie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note at the end. **

Third Year (1973-1974)

Minerva McGonagall prided herself on having taught at Hogwarts for seventeen years. She watched students come and go, growing up and changing more and more every year. When they left Hogwarts, they no longer were the timid, tiny eleven-year-olds they'd been when they first arrived. And that was why Professor McGonagall watched her students during her classes, comparing them to their parents or siblings or their younger selves.

James Potter and Lily Evans were quite an interesting duo to watch. She'd paired them together to separate Potter from Black, for the two never concentrated around each other. And McGonagall could see James striving to impress Lily, so she believed that having them work together would be beneficial for him.

She soon came to regret that decision. The two Gryffindor third-years were always either bickering and not focusing at all on their task, or Lily would be focusing too much on ignoring James and doing her work while he tried again and again to impress her. Now was one of the former occurrences. Twice she'd gone to reprimand the two for not working, and she wasn't looking forward to doing so again.

As she walked around the classroom, helping students with their spells or wand work, she saw Sirius Black approaching James out of the corner of her eye. It was quite unprofessional of her, but she pretended not to notice.

Lily was focused on her work, though her furrowed brow and pursed lips indicated displeasure due to something –or some_one_– else. She steadfastly ignored the whispers she could hear coming from behind her, where she knew James and Sirius were chatting instead of working.

"Oi, mate, quit staring at that Evans bird."

James spluttered for a second, shocked out of his trance-like state. "Wha– I wasn't staring! ...Shut up, Padfoot."

A scoff of disbelief. "Sure you weren't. Are you gonna ask her to Hogsmeade, then?"

Lily heard James sigh. "I dunno. I don't think she likes me much, to be honest."

"Prongs, don't be daft. Every girl at this school likes you."

James frowned, shrugging nonchalantly. "Not _every_ bird, Padfoot. Not this one."

Professor McGonagall saw a look of guilt on Lily's face, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. The fiery-haired girl whom the two boys had been talking about spun around to frown at them. "Oi, Potter, Black! Get back to work, will you? And quit whispering, you're making me lose my focus."

Yes, McGonagall decided, it was quite unprofessional for her to be watching that particular group of students when she was supposed to be teaching. But the unknown possibilities surrounding them created an air of curious intrigue. Professor McGonagall looked at her students once again. Sirius had gone back to his seat, but was flirting with the girl next to him. James vied for Lily's attention as he displayed his efficacious wand work. And Lily, who was struggling slightly to transfigure her teapot into a tortoise, turned to James and offered him a hesitant smile.

Christmas 1973

The corridor was blazing. Vibrant flames danced along the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Teachers darted about, some keeping students at bay while others worked to extinguish the fire that had so abruptly begun in the first floor corridor. There had been very few students caught in the blaze, and all had been evacuated before the fire began to rage with increased strength. The orange red yellow shining glow of the fire would've lit up the entire corridor, but the acrid black smoke that poured forth from the stubborn flames diminished the light. The heat emanating from the flames was enough to make the students watching back away, and the teachers who struggled to put out the fire were sweating profusely. The chatter of the students could barely be heard over the roar of the flames, but the gist of the conversations was easy to get. Nobody knew how the fire had started, but some said that a candle placed on one of the tinsel garlands hung upon the walls hadn't been enchanted, so it had somehow lit the entire garland on fire, and the flames had spread from there. Others thought someone had set the fire intentionally, but not necessarily having wanted it to get so out of control. All in all, nobody could be sure.

James Potter stood to the side with his friends, watching their teachers fight the fire as best they could. Even Professor Dumbledore was there. James glanced around, recognising his classmates and students from other Houses. He scowled when he saw Snape standing there, watching just as avidly as the others, but that scowl soon twisted into a frown. Snape was alone. Snape looked worried. But he was alone. Where was Evans? Now a bit frantic, James cast his gaze around once more, but still didn't see even a tiny glimpse of the girl's vibrant crimson hair. He leaned over to Sirius to ask him if he'd seen Evans around, but that was when a shrill scream resounded through the hallway. The sound echoed, seemingly growing stronger as it did (but that was impossible, wasn't it?). The teachers started, and Professor Dumbledore was the first to run into the raging inferno that the corridor was quickly becoming.

Minutes (hours?) passed and the other teachers still fought the fire, but it was quickly becoming dimmer and dimmer. Students had gasped when Dumbledore had raced into the flames, and the anxious chatter was growing louder and louder. Finally, students cheered. The fire was gone, and out of the hazy smoke some could see the tall figure of Professor Dumbledore emerge. Students waited with bated breath until they could clearly see the limp figure Dumbledore held. Snape was one of the first to rush forward, followed by James (who was inevitably followed by the Marauders). James could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest, an unexplainable anxiety growing within him at the sight of an unconscious, soot-covered Lily Evans. Professor Dumbledore had managed to keep the flames at bay, James dimly heard the Headmaster begin to explain in his quiet, calm voice as he continued to stare at Lily, the shock not quite fading from his pounding heart. Madam Pomfrey arrived; she and Dumbledore took Lily away. James watched them, his heart still pounding worriedly.

Sirius clapped him on the back. "You all right there, mate?" Remus looked away from the throngs of students slowly walking away from the smouldering remains that had yet to be repaired, and Wormtail scurried over from where another student had been talking to him.

"Just fine." James smiled bleakly at his friends. "Come on. Let's go enjoy our last day of term before Christmas."

Valentine's Day 1974

James watched Lily sitting next to Marlene McKinnon, both girls chatting in muted voices as they worked on their Charms homework. Their soft voices were the only sounds in the otherwise quiet library, alongside the scratching of quills on parchment and the rustling of pages in ancient and dusty times. Remus sat next to the bespectacled student, busying himself with his own Charms work. The aforementioned student shifted anxiously in his seat, homework forgotten in favour of staring bemusedly at the back of Lily's head.

Remus glanced up at his restless friend and rolled his eyes. "Just go for it, mate. Go and ask her. What's the worst that could happen?" James nodded, agreeing – as he usually did – with his friend's wise advice. The dark-haired boy returned to his unfinished work, glancing every so often at the bright-haired girl who had had the gall to invade his thoughts. He recognised Marlene's standing and gathering her things as his cue to approach the girl whose head was still bent over her parchment, working diligently. As soon as the blonde girl walked away, James got to his feet and took a deep breath before taking a step towards the table where Lily now saw, quite alone after her friend's departure. James was careful to walk slowly, wanting to avoid seeming too eager.

As James sauntered toward Lily, having gone around so he could approach from the front, he muttered almost inaudibly to himself. He heard a cloak swish, and came to an abrupt halt, ducking behind a bookshelf and hoping Lily hadn't seen him. His restless anxiety was quickly replaced by an anger that boiled his blood as he caught sight of greasy black hair, a hooked nose, dark eyes, and a pale face as the Slytherin took the seat next to Lily's, the one Marlene had recently vacated and James had planned to take. He glared at Severus, and had just turned around with the intention of returning to his seat next to Remus when a soft voice stopped him.

"What d'you want now, Potter?"

James took a moment to school his expression into his usual smirk before turning to face Lily and Severus. "Whatever d'you mean, Evans?"

She raised an eyebrow at his question, pursing her lips. "You know exactly what I mean, so don't act stupid. Why were you walking over here?"

"I was only coming here to ask you a question about our Charms homework, actually. But then I detected some sort of foul stench in the air... Can you smell that, Evans? It seems to be coming from somewhere near you; aren't you uncomfortable with the source of it so close?"

His comment made Lily scowl, and she retorted before Severus could, wanting to avoid the quarrel she could see brewing between the two students. "That's rude and unnecessary, Potter. I —"

The rest of her reply was lost as Severus interrupted her, glaring daggers at James. "Why don't you just ask Lily your question and go away, Potter? She has better things to do than waste her time trying to help you struggle through your stupidity."

"Better things to do? Like what? Spend all her time with a slimy Slytherin git like you?" James sneered, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I'll just ask Remus if he can help me instead. I wouldn't have come to ask her anything if I'd known her little guardian _snake_ would lash out at me." With a scoff, James turned and began to walk away, but not before adding one last comment. "You're lucky we're in the library, Snivellus. I, unlike you, actually respect the peace and silence we're supposed to maintain in the library." James walked back to Remus, taking care not to allow his shoulders to slump in defeat until he was sure Lily couldn't see him at all.

"How'd it go?" Remus wanted to know when James dropped himself into the chair, a frown marring the sandy-haired boy's expression.

"Didn't even get to ask. Stupid git was hanging around her again." James sighed, and then straightened. "Doesn't matter. I can just ask some other bird to go to Hogsmeade with me, I'm sure anyone else would be happy to."

James smirked confidently, but his friend could see disappointment in the eyes of the boy with messy black hair.

**Author's Note: Yay, I finally finished chapter three. Just so you all know, I've been posting these chapters as soon as I finish writing them. So if there's any delay in the updates (which I hope there won't be), it's because I'm struggling to finish writing.**

**Also have to mention this: ohmygod, this story so far has 114 visitors! That's amazing. Seeing that is encouraging me to keep writing. I am extremely grateful to you all. And I will quit rambling now, because I don't want to write an extremely long and annoying AN. :)**

**Can I ask one teensy tiny favour of you guys? If you have the time, please leave me a review. I'd love to know what you think of this story so far.**

**Much love, **

**Connie**


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